republican presidential candidate. >> president obama also campaigning extensively in ohio. eight electoral votes will be on the line there next month. tara mergener has more. >> reporter: mitt romney and his supporters have a new message for president obama. romney has three more campaign stops in ohio today for a very good reason. no republican has won the presidency without carrying ohio. >> i want you to go out there and find someone who voted for barack obama and get them to come join our team. >> reporter: romney's ohio poll numbers are sunning as more voters -- are surging as more voters are connecting. >> this country is a country of equal opportunity. everybody has an equal chance to succeed and i think romney kind of -- is for that. >> reporter: president obama is back in washington today. the obama campaign has 120 field offices spread across the

pivotal state. >> hello, buckeyes. >> reporter: in columbus, the president reminded voters which candidate supported the auto industry bailout. >> we reinvented a dying auto industry that supports one in eight ohio jobs and has come roaring back to the top of the world. >> reporter: ohio senior citizen bill todd believes the president has earned another four years in the white house. >> he's got my vote because four years ago the country was in bad shape. he's done everything he possibly could from the day he went in office. >> reporter: romney is spending four of the next five days in ohio. the president is also certain to be back during the final weeks of this very tight race. tara mergener for cbs news, washington. >> the producers of "sesame street" are asking the president's campaign to stop using an ad which features big bird. the ad implies that mitt romney is looking past all the wall street criminals and going after the big yellow character. >> the man has the guts to

speak his name. >> big bird, big bird,. >> it's me, big bird. >> big, yellow, a menace to our economy. mitt romney knows it's not wall street you have to worry about. it's "sesame street." >> big bird is not a menace. it's a nonpartisan, nonprofit group they say and they have not approved any ads. an obama campaign official said they are reviewing "sesame street" concerns. show me the money. pro and antigambling forces in maryland have spent more on their ad campaigns than was spent on the entire governor's race. voters go to the polls in november to decide whether to expand gambling in the free state. the bat nor sun reports more -- "baltimore sun" reports more than $35 million have been spent so far on the issue. that's more money than the total outlay of the martin o'malley-robert ehrlich campaigns in 2006. the fight over same-sex

marriage in maryland is heating up as well as election day nears. >> the union of a man and a woman has served society well for thousands of years. >> that's the latest ad from supporters of traditional marriage. they're urging voters to say no to same-sex marriage. the maryland marriage alliance pushed for a voter referendum on the state's same-sex marriage law just days after it was signed into law. >> i just reject the argument that those of us who oppose it are bigotry or hateful. it's not any of that. we love god and we have a responsibility to stand up for what is right. >> same-sex marriage supporters are also standing up to baltimore ravens linebacker brendan bodasia. he's the latest big name to support the law. he says the vote is a vote for equality across the state and the country. the referendum will appear as question 6 on the ballot. early voting begins october 27.

tuesday october 16 is the deadline to register to vote in maryland. former d.c. council chair kwame brown has been placed under a curfew in order to make weekly visits with court officials. the order came after brown failed to make three required phone calls. he resigned last june after pleading guilty to bank fraud and a misdemeanor campaign finance violation. he was warned not to, quote, tempt fate. howard brooks is scheduled to be sentenced today. he was the former campaign consultant to d.c. mayor vincent gray. he admitted to secretly funneling money to suleman brown. brown was supposed to speak neglectively about the rest of the candidates left in the race after getting the money so gray would have a better chance of winning. he pleaded equipment to obstruction of justice last may. former assistant football coach jerry sandusky will likely spend the rest of his

life in prison. he was sentenced yesterday to at least 30 years in prison. some of his sex abuse victims were at the sentencing hearing. he will be 98 years old before he can even be considered for parole. >> he could have imposed the sentence of many centuries of there's really no point to it. he imposed a life sentence. >> sandusky addressed the judge and maintained his finance and he plans to appeal his conviction. sandusky will now undergo psychological and medical exams before he's assigned to prison. the death of a virginia newspaper reporter has been ruled a homicide. sarah libby greenlaw was found dead inside her burning upperville home in july. yesterday police say the fire did not kill her. it was a gunshot wound to her neck. she worked for the winchester star. her mother is hopeful an arrest will be made soon. 4:35. the state of florida says a patient there has died from fungal meningitis.

>> if confirmed, it would be the 12th death nationwide linked to a tainted steroid injection. teresa garcia has the latest. >> it has a strong -- >> reporter: george kerry and his family are in mourning and in fear. >> we are trying to keep ourselves together and focus right now on healing ourselves. >> reporter: kerry's wife lillian died last week of a stroke. she was diagnosed with fungal meningitis after receiving an injection of a tainted steroid. george received similar injections and is awaiting test results to see if he is also infected. >> i think that right now the grief and disbelief that something like this could happen is still there. >> reporter: on tuesday new jersey became the tenth state to report an infection. 119 cases have been confirmed by the centers for disease control, 11 of them fatal. ron barb of tennessee is also awaiting test results. he received two injections of

the steroid for back pain last month. >> symptoms started this morning with a slight stiff neck and a headache. >> reporter: officials in tennessee say they've identified a second fungus in the vials of tainted steroid, a fungus most doctors would normally never see. the cdc says 13,000 people received the potentially contaminated drug. those patients are being told to watch for symptoms for three months. george cary is watching and waiting and wondering why there isn't more oversight of the medical industry. >> perhaps the message is wake up, america. >> reporter: a warning that comes too late for his wife. teresa garcia, cbs news. >> there is now congressional pressure to get more oversight. lawmakers from both parties and in both houses of congress are calling for briefings to investigate titler drug safety regulations. 4:37 now. here's a look at some of the other stories making news this morning. should race be considered when it comes to college admissions? the supreme court is going to

hear a case that is posing that question. they're doing that starting today. we'll have more on the fisher vs. university of texas case later today on 9news starting at 5:00 p.m. new york city lawmakers are considering setting new rules for the police department's stop and frisk practice. under the practice, police can stop someone if the officer has reasonable suspicion that person might break the law. mayor michael bloomberg defends the program saying it's an anticrime tool but critics say it apartments to racial profiling of the more than 640,000 stops made in 2011, roughly nine out of ten involved young blacks or hispanics. only 12% of the stop and frisks resulted in arrest. our time is 4:38. after some early fog and clouds, wednesday clears out nicely. howard is back in two minutes with a look at today's forecast. >> at 4:42, we'll let you know what school you need to attend

which can help you get a higher salary. >> a popular cheese is being recalled. which brand and why it's being awed. >> 9news -- being rawldz. >> 9news -- being recalled. >> 9news returns. i don't spend money

on gasoline. i am probably going to the gas station about once a month. last time i was at a gas station was about...i would say... two months ago. i very rarely put gas

in my chevy volt. i go to the gas station such a small amount that i forget how to put gas in my car. [ male announcer ] and it's not just these owners giving the volt high praise. volt received the j.d. power and associates appeal award two years in a row. ♪ welcome back. 4:41 on this wednesday morning. some fog out there in spots. got the early clouds, even some spotty drizzle but all in all a decent day. 64 by noon. so maybe a little light jacket and some sunscreen for the nats this afternoon as highs make a run toward 71. 67 at 6:00. i'll be back in five minutes looking ahead toward the weekend. i think you're going to like that right now here's monika samtani hoping i'm going to like what you're going to tell us. >> i think so with the exception of one area in burtonsville. up north 198 is blacked west of

route 29 because of a utility problem. here in silver spring, good news. all lanes are open on the beltway. i'll be back with more traffic in a few minutes at 4:48. >> thank you, monika. it's 4:42. time for the first your money segment ever the morning. >> jessica is -- of the morning. >> jessica is here. we didn't do so well. >> no. we're not there, folks. part of the problem the international monetary fund says the global economy is getting worse. the imf says the downturn is starting to spread from europe and asia to developing nations. wall street didn't like that. checks the numbers. the dow standes this morning 13,473, dropped 110 points in trade yesterday. nasdaq was down. got hammered too, down by 47 points. the s&p 500 was down by 14. alcoa kicked up earnings season. the aluminum giant reported better than expected profits and sales for the third

quarter. investors will be watching shares at the opening bell in just about four hours. fingers crossed. much of wall street appears to be throwing its financial support behind mitt romney. the six biggest banks have all given nearly $2 million to romney's presidential campaign. that's about 40% more than president obama's $700,000 in contributions. this is interesting. it's a switch in comparison. goldman sachs directed a lion's share of its donations in the last campaign to president obama. and columbia law school ranks number one when it comes to finding jobs for graduates. according to the princeton review, columbia managed to get 99% of its 2011 grads a job just nine months after leaving school. the starting salary averaging $160,000 a year. not a decade. a year. that's getting out of law school. >> their loans will be a little

steep for a while but that's unheard of. it helps the cause. >> why didn't i go to law school again? i'll tell you. >> that's a lot of reading. thanks, jess. could you make the work if you only had $30 to spend on 21 meals? >> we'll take a look at some of the challenges of living on food stamps. we'll be back.

good morning. welcome back to 9news now with weather first and howard bernstein. we'll get right to it. game time 1:07. first pitch out there. will it be a rain-soaked game? >> not at all. if they were playing right now it would be a little damp but we'll get rid of this stuff pretty quickly the next few hours. we do start with the bus stop forecast. it's another cool to chilly morning in areas. we've got low 40s out in the shenandoah valley so a jacket, maybe glove weather with the dampness out there with patchy

fog and spotty drizzle as well. sunrise not until 7:13. temps anywhere from the low 40s to the upper 50s right now depending on where you are. 58 degrees at 8:00 here in d.c. i think we'll already be partly sunny and becoming mostly sunny. noontime temp 64. 4:00 70. and 8:00 p.m. 61. so if you're going to the ballpark, that first pitch 1:07, looks like a game time temperature of 66 rising to 70. winds westerly, southwesterly at about 10 miles an hour. and sunshine. so don't forget the sunscreen. this morning we have the clouds. they're on top of us. had some light sprinkles, showers generally well east of us. see them along the coastal areas up into jersey. what the radars don't pick up is some of the drizzle being reported in a few spots. temps mid- to upper 50s from d.c. south and east. the patuxent river nave ago air station already -- naval air

station already 59. some of the visibilities in western maryland are down to a quarter mile. eastern shore about half to three-quarters. our michael & son weather camera, you see some low clouds, reduced visibility but nothing awful, at least here in the metro. 57. the winds are calm. humidity high at 88%. you might need a little extra hair spray this morning. let's talk about temps. we have a lot of cold that's coming rye down in through the middle of the country. i point this out because there's a cold front and a storm system that's going to drag some of this cold right toward us. you see the showers coming in through michigan, into indiana. that's ahead of the cold front. that will be arriving here. looks like most of the moisture will stay north of us. while this is going to sweep through us and kind of clear us out, i don't think it's going to have much weather with it. all it's going to do for us is cool us down a bit the next couple of days before we warm up later in the weekend. not that bad at all. we'll shave the clouds off pretty early this morning and

partly to mostly sunny, pleasant, 71 for d.c. again those winds west, southwest at about 10 miles an hour. tonight we're dipping into the 40s in most areas. a chilly night. only 64 tomorrow with plenty of sunshine. friday 66. again we start 40s. some 30s in the cold air. we finish in the mid-60s. the weekend not bad. friday 66. saturday 68 and sunday 77. it is 4:49. time for monika samtani and timesaver traffic. good morning. good morning, everybody. we've got the construction. if you're planning to head around town, especially on the beltway west side of town, there was that construction on 66 and on the inner loop between 66 and route 7. other than that, one other issue that i want to let you know about is up in burtonsville. route 198 is blocked. west of route 29 because after utility problem.

i subject you use green castle road instead. we don't have any indication as to how long that will be there. 270 looks great. we'll take a live look if you're planning to head a little further south on 270 and the beltway. we'll go to our mdot camera and show what you it looks like on i-95 on our traffic camera or the beltway at university boulevard. things look great. no problems on 95 at route 32 as you head down to the beltway and over towards silver spring. that construction should be in its clearing stages as well. let's go back over to the maps this time into virginia. on the northbound side of 95, things look great. woodbridge as you head over to springfield and on to 395. a live look outside in springfield where just a tiny bit of volume is forming but no big deals yet heading for the beltway. i'll be back with more traffic coming up at 4:55. back to you guys. >> thank you, monika. food stamps are a necessity for thousands of residents in our area, but stretching the food stamp allowance into meals can be difficult. and often comes at a price of nutrition. >> to understand just how difficult this is, some local families are taking part in the

food stamp challenge. the goal? limit your food purchases to just $30 per week. we have more. >> reporter: 140,000 residents in the district rely on food stamps to put food on the table. the average weekly allowance for one person $30. >> it's really challenging to get enough food to last you through the week and also to buy what you want to eat. >> reporter: alex ashbrook is the director of d.c. hunger solutions, an organization that works to end hunger in our community. ashbrook is taking part in the food stamp challenge. that means she has only $30 for 21 meals, only about $1.40 a meal. this morning she bought everything on the table and she will have to stretch this into breakfast, lunch and dinner for the next seven days. >> i estimate i have enough food to get me through five days or so. i really had to be conscious of what i was putting into my cart, and i had -- i felt like

i was playing the price is right making sure i was going to hit $30. >> reporter: she says for a typical meal she may eat a sandwich. if she bought a loaf of bread, pound of deli meat, lettuce and tomato, it would cost $12.76. she would stretch all of that across multiple meals. it week she was forced to buy bread with baloney and spinach which was on sale. that would cost only $5.57. a big difference but the cost is nutrition. but the sacrifices allowed her to stretch the money she had. >> food stamps to be even more beneficial should be expanded and funded more so people can actually eat throughout the month. >> reporter: after the challenge is over, ashbrook says she's fortunate and can go back to eating what she wants, but for too many, living on food stamps is a reality they struggle with every day. in northwest washington, 9news. if you have little ones, chances are you have some string cheese in your refrigerator as a snack. we have a consumer alert this

morning from kraft that says 2700 cases of it are being recalled. there's a problem with some of the sticky plastic packaging on the jalapeno spring cheese. the -- sting cheese. the 12 ounce bags have a used by date of november 23, 2012. shoe return it to the store or exchange it for a full refund. it is 4:53. time for the question of the morning. >> "u.s.a. today" says 3%, just 3% of americans admit to eating in one of these locations. is it a, on the floor, b, in the tub, or c, in bed. >> log on to the wusa9 facebook fan page. leave your response. we'll reveal the answer during the 6:00 hour.

welcome back. 4:556789 your weather first --

4:55. your weather first. we have spotty drizzle and patchy fog west of us. high temperatures today are going to run to the upper 60s and low 70s. enjoy it. a little cooler weather coming in tomorrow and friday. monika? if you're planning to head on to the northbound side of 395, no problems leaving the beltway to the 14th street bridge here across the potomac river. in fact, all the anacostia and potomac river crossings are sent free. i'll be back with more details -- are incident free. i'll be back with more details at 5:01. it's beginning to look a lot like christmas, at least at knee man marcus. they've released. the 86th edition of the holiday catalogue. almost 40% of the items in this year's catalogue cost less than $250. things like donkey and elephant cuff links in honor of the upcoming election for $50 a pair or fruitcakes. but those aren't the eye

catching gifts. how about the $1 million his and hers watches. >> they're ugly. >> or perhaps you'd rather pay $150,000 for this woody tailgate trailer. and it comes with its own borbon. or this henhouse that comes with three to ten hens, depending on what you want. they don't say what variety of hens but you can negotiate. are you in the spirit now, mike? >> yeah. $4:57. another first for nasa's mars curiosity rover. look at the six-wheeled robotic explorer collecting its first scoop of material from the surface of mars. you can see the sand and powdery substance which was collected. this was on sunday. scientific instruments are going to be used to analyze the

consistency of the material scooped. three years after their chart topping album the resistance, muse is back with a new album which might be the band's most eccentric yet. >> two band members gave us the scoop on their new tour. alexis christoforous has the story. ♪ i can't get these memories out of my mind ♪ >> reporter: rolling stone calls muse's sixth album the band's biggest, craziest music yet. >> it's different. i think the album is different from the last one. >> definitely more groove, more daunting stuff on this album i think maybe. >> reporter: since muse got together in 1994, this grammy award winning band has sold more than 15 million albums worldwide. the latest second law debuted number one on the uk billboard chart and tackled some heavy

topics from the recent banking crisis to fatherhood. the song follow me follows the heart beat of the band member's newborn son with kate hudson. the trio is gearing up their first tour in nearly two years and as usual, they're promising a spectacle. >> this time we have this huge upside down pyramid that can kind of move around the morph and turn itself inside out. >> reporter: muse fans in the u.s. will have to wait until january to catch their new tour which kicks off in san diego. alexis christoforous, cbs news. good morning. thank you for watching 9news now at 5:00 a.m. i'm andrea roane. i'm mike hydeck. isn't that a beautiful dress monika is wearing this morning? she looks just spectacular. >> i wonder where she got it. >> i don't know. where did you get it? >> howard? >> we have patchy fog and drizzle thmo